Month: May 2021

Jack Antonoff is readying a new Bleachers album, Take The Sadness Out Of Saturday Night, that’s set for release in July, so as part of the promotional cycle, the band stopped by The Tonight Show yesterday to perform “How Dare You Want More.” Elsewhere on the show, Antonoff sat down for an interview with Jimmy Fallon, where he talked about Taylor Swift, making music during the pandemic, and Bruce Springsteen.

He spoke about what it was like at the Grammys this year with Taylor Swift and the crew behind Folklore, saying, “It was the most I’ve fun I’ve had at something like that because it was so weird. […] It was also like, to know what you went through to make records that year. No one had an easy time with anything, but all I know in my corner is making records, and I know how tough it was and I know how much we had to go through to get those records done and to make them. So, it meant a lot.”

In reference to Take The Sadness Out Of Saturday Night, Antonoff went on to speak about how it felt making music during the pandemic and made an interesting comparison:

“I think about sourdough bakers, because there’s like a culture of people who make sourdough, right? And when the pandemic hit, how did they feel? Were they like, ‘Great, now everyone’s a f*cking sourdough baker.’ You’ll understand this as a comedian and writer, you guys [gestures off-camera] understand this as writers, anyone who writes out there: When the world is going on and people are going to restaurants and people are going to parties and people are doing things and you make the choice to take yourself out of it and work on your work, there’s a power to that. Something weird happened in the pandemic where I was like, ‘Well now we’re all forced inside, so I’m just’… it was just different and it made me do the opposite. It made me want to go out to the studio, which was tough, but it made me want to get the band in a room. We can’t play, so let’s play in the room like kids in a basement with that dream of playing real shows. It had a total… I don’t know if I’m articulating this well, but… because I’m usually sequestered in my life — like the sourdough baker — when everyone started making sourdough, I wanted to go back to the studio. […] It’s a solitary life, so it’s interesting.”

Watch Antonoff’s chat with Fallon above and find Bleachers’ performance of “How Dare You Want More” below.

Take The Sadness Out Of Saturday Night is out 7/30 via RCA. Pre-order it here.

After decades of rumors and revisions, cult-classic, dark fantasy series The Sandman is finally getting a live-action adaptation via a Netflix original series, and no, this is not a dream. Since the start of 2021, more information regarding the upcoming show’s cast and production is slowly but surely being revealed. While longtime Sandman fans might be pretty well-versed in the premise of the artsy and emotional comic series, those not a part of the “cult” in “cult-classic” might be wondering what it’s all about. If you find yourself thinking just that, allow us to shed some light for you. (You can also read our 2020 interview with Neil Gaiman about The Sandman here.)

The Sandman, Explained

— While the character of The Sandman already existed in DC Comics prior to 1989, it’s writer Neil Gaiman’s revival of the series that created the character and story we know and love today. Advertised as a “horror-edged fantasy set in the DC universe,” the series follows a pale man who is referred to by many names, including Dream, Morpheus, and of course, The Sandman.

— Dream, as he’s most commonly called, is a part of The Endless, a family of seven siblings who physically embody and carry out the will of abstract concepts, such as destiny, destruction, and desire. Each one of The Endless has their own tasks and rules their own realm, and in many ways they take on the form of a sort of mythology within the DCU. The cosmic beings are said to have existed since the beginning of time and are among the most powerful creations in the DC universe. However, while the whole family plays a vital role in the events that take place over the course of the comics seven-year run, ultimately the story revolved around Dream.

— After being wrongly imprisoned and forced to reflect upon his life, Dream returns to his realm only to be burdened with the task of having to reclaim both his totems of power that stolen from him during his absence and his sense of purpose. As the story continues, much of it revolves around the dysfunction of The Endless, and the toll their lack of sensitivity takes. Ultimately, Dream’s quest is a tragic one — one in which he repeatedly tries to right his wrongs but is forced to reconcile with just how severe those wrongs were.

— Nearly universally praised upon release, The Sandman went on to become one of the first graphic novels to be on the New York Times Best Seller list and is considered one of the most influential comics ever written, inspiring future writers and catapulting DC Comic imprint Vertigo to fame. At this point, you might be wondering why a compelling and critically-acclaimed comic book — written by a beloved fantasy author with numerous adaptations — hasn’t already graced our television screens. Well, long story short, it’s not for lack of trying.

The Sandman‘s Development Hell

— Long story long, a Sandman big-screen adaptation has been in development hell for the better part of 25 years. Since the mid-90s, DC Comics parent company Warner Bros. has had a film adaptation in the works, with various scripts and cast members attached at different points. In 1996, Roger Avary (who was fresh from working alongside Quentin Tarantino on Pulp Fiction) was reportedly attached to the project. After collaborating with Pirates of the Caribbean writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, the trio created a script that, ultimately, did not work. It was passed around between writers until it got back to Gaiman, who called the script, “not only the worst Sandman script I’ve ever seen, but quite easily the worst script I’ve ever read.”

— By 2001, Warner Bros. went silent on the status of the film. When asked about it in 2007, Gaiman told fans he’d “rather see no Sandman movie made than a bad Sandman movie. But I feel like the time for a Sandman movie is coming soon.” Three years later, news of a Sandman adaptation once again surfaced, though this time it was said it’d be a television series. While both HBO and Supernatural creator Eric Kripke were both approached with an offer to work on the series with WB and Gaiman, ultimately neither worked out.

— In 2013, David S. Goyer (Blade, The Dark Knight Trilogy) announced he would be producing an adaptation of the graphic novel, alongside Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Gaiman. Originally, Jack Thorne (Shameless, Skins) was brought on to write the script, but after the studio decided revisions were necessary, Eric Heisserer (A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010), Final Destination 5) was hired to rewrite it. The day after this was announced, Gordon-Levitt announced he was leaving the project due to creative differences. Shortly after, Heisserer reportedly turned in a script but then immediately left, stating Sandman should be an HBO series instead.

The Netflix Adaptation

— While it might not be coming to HBO, it looks like Heisserer was right and a series treatment is what we’re getting. In 2019, Netflix announced it had teamed up with Warner Bros. to create an adaptation of Sandman that might actually see the light of day. In January 2021, a few members of the key cast were revealed, followed by even more earlier this week. However, as of right now, no release date has been announced. According to Gaiman in his Netflix blog post, we still have a few more announcements — and secrets — to hear before we can settle in for what’s sure to be a dreamy night.

Video games are worth more than ever before. In 2020 the gaming industry surged to be worth more than the North American movies and sports industries combined. How video games reached this point has been a mix of many factors, such as every console becoming an all-encompassing at-home entertainment box and most everyone being stuck at home in 2020 with nothing better to do. However, the explosion of the game industry is very real and is only going to continue, especially as it continues to enter a market that is slowly making up more and more of its profits: Mobile games.

Mobile gaming accounted for 50 percent of video game profits in 2020 and the reasons why are pretty obvious. There are way more people with smartphones than people with consoles and that market is one that is extremely ripe with opportunity. At the moment the large majority of games on phones follow a similar design philosophy: Make something that is free, replayable, addictive, and has microtransactions. Give players an incentive to spend real money on their game and they will. Unfortunately, this has led to a lot of mobile games, while lucrative, feeling very shallow.

There is a huge potential in the mobile games market and its one that many industry giants are beginning to recognize. EA released The Simpsons Tapped Out in 2012 and it made $100 million by 2013. Square Enix has a couple Final Fantasy titles on there, some infamously terrible but others are well received for their creativity, and it’s the latter that gives hope for mobile gaming.

We all remember the success of Pokemon Go when it first released, but that is a title still receiving frequent updates with a hardcore player base, making $1 billion in 2020. That success may also be what sparked Nintendo to put more focus on mobile gaming. Since Pokemon Go‘s release in 2016, they’ve released Super Mario Run, Fire Emblem Heroes, Animal Crossing Pocket Camp, Dr. Mario World, and Mario Kart Tour. Unfortunately for Nintendo, most of those follow-up releases did not see nearly the same level of success as Pokemon Go did, except for Fire Emblem which had over $500 million in profits. Nintendo’s foray into the mobile market had mixed results and there are rumors they’re going to put less of an emphasis on it in the future. However, a recently announced partnership with mobile developer Niantic shows they aren’t getting out of it entirely.

Nintendo’s mixed results were still an overall success and it’s an example of how fruitful the mobile games market can be. One that is attracting PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan. Via IGN.

“We are exploring the mobile market with some wonderful PlayStation franchises so please stay tuned,” Ryan says. It’s not clear what franchises will be part of these mobile experiments or how these projects will take shape, but it seems fair to expect more mobile experiences from PlayStation in the future, as part of a push to “welcome millions of new gamers to the PlayStation family”.

Why PlayStation would be interested in investing in the mobile market makes sense. This has massive money-making potential, but it sounds like PlayStation is going to rely on the power of their IPs to carry them in mobile similar to how Nintendo has chosen to operate. Looking at Nintendo’s history, they really only had two major successes in the mobile market with Pokemon Go and Fire Emblem. No offense to any Sony fans out there, but are there any PlayStation-only IPs that carry the same weight as a Mario, Fire Emblem, or Pokemon? They’re just not on the same level with the more casual gaming base of mobile. Most fans aren’t going to be dying to play through an Uncharted or God of War story on their phones the same way they’ll jump at the chance to experience Final Fantasy or The Simpsons.

That is unless PlayStation changes the mobile market. The formula of mobile games is very basic and largely pay to win. This shallow, but effective, style of development is what makes these games as profitable as they are. It’s why even the duds end up being profitable in the end, but what if someone came in and changed that? If PlayStation comes in and tries to emulate what other companies have done they may see some profit, but they won’t see a huge success that they’re seeking out. However, if they come in and deliver mobile stories that have thousands downloading just to experience then they could completely flip the market on its head.

Mobile games when they’re creative and different can reach a group of people that largely don’t play games. Ryan did say that part of his intention is to bring new people into the “PlayStation family” and the best way to do that is to make good games, not just profitable ones. If PlayStation comes in and makes creative mobile games then this could be a chance to do something really awesome. If they just make a bunch of play to win style games similar to what Nintendo did, then don’t be surprised if we get a headline in a few years about them putting less emphasis on mobile.

Season Five of The Office kicked off with Jim finally proposing to Pam at a gas station halfway between Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he lives, and New York City, where she’s taking a graphic design class. It’s more romantic than it sounds. It was also an unexpected gesture because, as Jenna Fischer explained on the Office Ladies podcast, you rarely see big life events — proposals, weddings, births — in the season premieres.

“I just want you guys to know that [showrunner] Greg [Daniels] spoke with us about this. He said that he really wanted Jim’s proposal to Pam to be in the season premiere. He thought, number one — that would be unexpected. You usually end seasons with proposals,” she said (via Entertainment Weekly). “He said he also wanted to throw people off by having it in a very ordinary location. So, he wanted [it] to feel special, but he also wanted it to feel like Jim made the decision without a whole lot of planning.”

Fischer also revealed that the gas station where Jim gets down on one knee isn’t real — it was a set built in a Best Buy parking lot over a former-toxic waste site. The crew even “built a four-lane, circular race track around the gas station set,” she said. “They set up cameras on the other side of this raceway and they had cars drive around it at 55 mph.”

The scene did benefit from some special effects: the California mountains were edited out and replaced with trees seen on the East Coast. “In the end, this was the single most expensive scene ever shot in the entire run of the show. It lasts 52 seconds, and it cost $250,000,” Fischer revealed, to [Angela] Kinsey’s great shock.

Spending a quarter of a million bucks for 52-second shot in a Best Buy parking lot?

Still a cute scene, though. You can watch it below.

(Via EW)

The sixth and final season of the Breaking Bad spin-off, Better Call Saul, is currently shooting, although the season itself is not expected to debut on AMC until early 2022. Saul is essentially a Breaking Bad prequel, but it is anticipated that the timelines for the final season of Better Call Saul will intersect with the timeline of Breaking Bad. In fact, the Saul showrunner, Peter Gould, has even indicated that events in Saul will “change our perception” of Breaking Bad.

We obviously don’t know yet all the ways in which the two series will intersect, but thanks to some local Alberquque TikTok users (and confirmation from Snopes), we do know of at least one Breaking Bad character and location that will make an appearance in Saul‘s final season.

(Minor SPOILERS for Better Call Saul will be found below.)

Breaking Bad fans may recall several appearances by a character named Wendy, a meth addict and sex worker who provides sexual services in the parking lot of the Crossroads Motel, or what Hank called “The Crystal Palace.” The Crossroads Motel made a number of appearances during the first three seasons of the show, and although it is mostly associated with Wendy, appearances there were also made by Hank, Walter, Jr., and Jesse Pinkman.

It appears from the TikTok videos that Saul Goodman will also not only make an appearance at the motel but that he and Wendy will share at least one scene. Here, in the first video, we see Bob Odenkirk as Saul Goodman visiting the Crossroads Motel in a Jaguar. The car strongly suggests that Jimmy McGill has fully inhabited his Saul Goodman persona by the final season.

Meanwhile, in a second video — also shot at the Crossroads Motel — we can actually see a woman who appears to be Wendy, played by actress Julia Minesci.

It’s hard, if not impossible, to deduce from this any of the final season’s plot details, but it at least illustrates that at least one more Breaking Bad character will be making an appearance. It’s impossible to imagine, given the shared timelines, that Walter White and Jesse Pinkman won’t at least make token appearances in the final season as well, although Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul have been mum on that prospect.

Better Call Saul will return in 2022.

(Via Snopes)

Aside from getting the familiar Friends cast back together, Friends: The Reunion (which premiered today on HBO Max) also features a handful of celebrity cameos. However, while music stars Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, and BTS pop up in the special, they are nowhere to be found in the Chinese version of it.

As Vice notes, the scenes featuring the music stars are not present on the versions of the show that premiered on Youku, iQiYi, and Tencent Video, three of China’s biggest streaming platforms. Other guest stars on the special — including David Beckham, Cara Delevingne, Cindy Crawford, and Malala Yousafzai — appear as normal on the Chinese versions. The cause of the censorship is not currently clear and Tencent, iQiYi, and Youku owner Alibaba did not respond to the publication’s request for comment. Vice notes, though, that fans have gained access to clips of Gaga, Bieber, and BTS’ appearances and are sharing them on popular Chinese social media platform Weibo.

While the reason behind the artists being blocked from the special in China isn’t confirmed, all three have prior experience with backlash in the country, as Vice also notes. Gaga has been banned from Chinese television since her 2016 meeting with the Dalai Lama, who the Chinese government considers to be a separatist. Bieber was previously banned from performing in China due to “bad behavior” in 2017, as authorities put it. As for BTS, they faced calls for boycott in China in 2020, after RM endorsed the alliance between the US and South Korea in the 1950-1953 Korean War.

Check out the (apparently controversial) clips of Gaga, Bieber, and BTS on Friends: The Reunion below.

Alan Dershowitz’s name has been a feared one in the legal community for nearly 60 years now. Over the course of his storied career, the longtime Harvard law professor and criminal defense attorney to the rich and famous has (successfully) represented some of the world’s biggest names, including Mike Tyson, Julian Assange, Harvey Weinstein, and former president Donald Trump during his first impeachment trial.

In 1995, Dershowitz raised his profile even higher when he became part of O.J Simpson’s “Dream Team.” More recently, Dershowitz raised eyebrows when he agreed to represent the now-deceased accused sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and, according to Vox, “helped negotiate a ‘non-prosecution agreement’ under which Epstein served just 13 months in a county jail, much of it spent on ‘work release’ in an office.” Shortly thereafter, some of the women alleging sexual abuse by Epstein accused Dershowitz of the same. While the 82-year-old attorney has adamantly denied any sexual impropriety, and even countersued for defamation, he recently added one more name to his enemies list: Netflix.

Almost exactly one year to the date of its original release, Deadline reports that Dershowitz has slapped the streaming network with a mind-boggling $80 million lawsuit over its documentary, Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich. The docuseries recounts several of the sexual abuse claims against Epstein from the perspective of his alleged victims, including Virginia Giuffre, a woman who said she was hired to work as a masseuse for Epstein when she was just 17 years-old, but “was soon groomed to have sex with Epstein, Dershowitz, and other powerful men as part of a sex-trafficking ring.”

Per Deadline:

Dershowitz, who once defended Epstein in a Florida case, denies Giuffre’s claims and has called her “a serial liar who has deliberately made up stories about me and others in the hopes of cashing in on millions of dollars.”

His lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Miami federal court, contends that Netflix intentionally misled Dershowitz about his appearance in the documentary. Dershowitz also claims Netflix defamed him by falsely asserting in the series that he had sex with one of Epstein’s victims.

“Giuffre’s accusations that she had sex with Professor Dershowitz are categorically false, and Professor Dershowitz has denied and disproved the accusations—including under oath subject to the penalties of perjury,” the lawsuit says.

Dershowitz’s lawsuit was filed on the same day that Peacock dropped a brand-new trailer for its own Epstein-focused docuseries, the three-part Epstein’s Shadow: Ghislaine Maxwell. Though Dershowitz is not mentioned in the trailer, which you can watch below, it’s hard to imagine that he won’t factor into the story in some way.

(Via Deadline)

Early Wednesday morning, news broke that Kevin Clark—the actor/musician best known for his role as drummer Freddy “Spazzy McGee” Jones in Richard Linklater’s beloved 2003 comedy-musical School of Rock—died in a tragic biking accident in Chicago. As word spread of the 32-year-old’s death, tributes from those who knew him began to pour in. Actor/singer/comedian Jack Black, who starred alongside Clark in School of Rock and reunited with him for screenings and other events over the years, took to Instagram to post his own heartfelt remembrance, writing: “Devastating news. Kevin is gone. Way too soon. Beautiful soul. So many great memories. Heartbroken. Sending love to his family and the whole school of rock community.”

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A post shared by Jack Black (@jackblack)

Per a report from the Chicago Tribune:

“About 1:20 a.m., Clark, 32, of the 700 block of West Roscoe Street in Lakeview, was riding east on his bike on Logan Boulevard, approaching the intersection at North Western Avenue, police said. A silver Hyundai Sonata driving south on Western Avenue was coming up on a green light and drove into the intersection, hitting the bicyclist as he ran a red light, a witness and the driver both told responding officers, according to a crash report.”

Clark, who grew up in Highland Park, Illinois, learned to play the drums at an early age, which is how he came to land the coveted role in School of Rock. As Variety reported, Black and Clark last reunited at a Tenacious D show in late 2018, where Clark gave Black some custom items branded with Dreadwolf, the name of his band at the time. While music was still very much a part of Clark’s life, School of Rock was his only acting credit. You can watch a clip of Clark and Black from School of Rock below.

(Via Chicago Tribune)

The Rock might be the one who’s making career announcements after getting a good pump, but Emily Blunt’s having a moment with movies coming back in theaters. She’s currently starring in the so-tense-it-makes-your-stomach-hurt A Quiet Place 2, and she’s the one with the best action shots in Disney’s new Jungle Cruise trailer. Yep, she totally punches The Rock in the face, and dare I say that she’s tougher than Jason Statham here? Yep, I said it.

Blunt portrays Dr. Lily Houghton, an intrepid researcher who’s looking for a magical healing tree (yes, that’s right), and The Rock plays Frank, who’s guiding her down the river in his ramshackle vessel through all sorts of life-threatening obstacles. Those dangers include Jesse Plemons firing a torpedo at the duo after brandishing a German accent and shouting, “Hallöchen!”

Movies are back, y’all.

Disney’s Jungle Cruise releases in U.S. theaters and on Disney+ with Premier Access on July 30, 2021. Here’s a new poster, too.

After seeing the Blazers neutralize their “others” in Game 1, the Nuggets came out on a mission in Game 2, dominating on the offensive end on their way to a 128-109 win.

Nikola Jokic continues to dominate the Blazers’ bigs, but after Portland’s “let Jokic score” strategy paid off in the opener, the rest of the Nuggets did a much better job figuring out how to work off of him getting single-covered in Game 2. He still went off for 38 points and Michael Porter Jr. had his customary 18, but they got much more help from the likes of Paul Millsap, Aaron Gordon, Monte Morris, and Facu Campazzo. For Portland, it was a reversal of Game 1 as Damian Lillard erupted for 42 points, most of which came in the first half as he caught fire in the second quarter to keep the Blazers attached. But he cooled off in the second half and Portland’s bench was unable to produce as they did in the opener, allowing Denver to extend their lead and put the Blazers away without too much trouble.

For Game 3, it will be another fascinating battle of adjustments from two teams very familiar with one another. From a betting perspective, Game 2 went Over the total and Denver covered as 1.5-point favorites with relative ease.

Game 3 TV Info

Tip Time: Thursday, May 27; 10:30 p.m. ET
TV Network: NBATV

Game 3 Betting Lines (via DraftKings Sportsbook)

Series Prices: Blazers (-175), Nuggets (+140)
Spread: Blazers -3.5 (-112), Nuggets +3.5 (-109)
Total: Over 227.5 (-109), Under 227.5 (-112)
Money Line: Blazers (-159), Nuggets (+133)